Berlin school protest draws few pupils as police count about 250 marchers
The rally in Schöneberg backed student protests in France, but police said most participants came from the far-left activist scene. It ended without incident.
Archive image · Photo: Dirk Ingo Franke / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
Demonstrators gathered in Berlin's Schöneberg district on Saturday afternoon in solidarity with weeks of student protests in France. Police initially put the crowd at Kleistpark subway station at around 300, later revising it to about 250. The rally was called by the Left Party youth group Linksjugend Solid and the party's Neukölln branch, demanding better learning conditions.
Police spokesman Florian Nath told Der Tagesspiegel that participants came mostly from the "clearly left-leaning activist scene of all stripes" and that hardly any young people turned up despite the call for a student protest. Flags of France's La France Insoumise and some Palestinian flags were visible. Speakers also opposed reinstating military conscription.
After a short march, the crowd had largely dispersed by about 5:20 p.m. Police reported no incidents. On Friday, a protest at a school in the Friedrichshain district led to scuffles with police.